The present invention relates to footwear, and more particularly to a sole for an article of footwear.
There has been an increase in the popularity of hiking, walking, and other outdoor recreational activity. The footwear industry has responded by increasing its efforts in the design and manufacture of outdoor footwear. These efforts are directed primarily to the production of footwear that is both comfortable and provides improved traction on outdoor terrain.
Hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts often travel over rugged and uneven terrain, such as climbing or descending a rocky slope or a cliff. When traveling over sloped terrain, there is a tendency for the footwear to slip out from beneath the wearer down the slope as weight is applied during the down-step. This problem increases as the terrain becomes more extreme. In fact, when traveling over extreme terrain, such as rock faces and steep cliffs, the wearer will often engage the terrain with the profile (i.e. the side) or toe of the outsole to improve traction.
In an effort to address these problems, outdoor footwear typically includes lugs that protrude from the bottom of the outsole to engage the ground. While these lugs grip uneven surfaces in the terrain and provide improved traction, they are typically manufactured from relatively hard materials. This generally results in an outsole that is relatively stiff and uncomfortable, particularly when walking on hard, flat surfaces. Further, these lugs typically extend only from the bottom surface of the outsole. As a result, they do not improve traction when traveling over extreme terrain where the wearer may engage the ground with the profile or toe of the outsole.